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About the APS Capability Reinvestment Fund 2023-24
The APS Capability Reinvestment Fund is an innovative approach to investing in the organisational capability of the APS. The Fund supports the APS’s priority to build capability to address service wide challenges. It will support initiatives that strengthen the APS to deliver for the Australian community, now and into the future.
Implementing scalable and impactful activities will support all agencies to better prepare for current and future challenges.
There are a number of identified APS capability priorities. Round 1 guidelines detail the parameters for the allocation of the Fund in 2023-24. They also set out how initial funding will support the initiation of high priority projects.
The application process was open from December 2022 to February 2023.
Guidelines for future years of the Fund will be revised following the outcomes of the Audit of Employment, the Audit of Waste, and the pilot Agency Capability Reviews.
Round 1 outcomes
Ten projects involving 14 agencies will be funded as part of Round 1, in 2023-24. Agencies are working together to design and deliver these projects over the 2023-24 financial year.
List of successful Round 1 projects:
| Project Name | Outcomes | Partner Agencies |
| MOSAIC: Promoting culturally and linguistically diverse capability | Address barriers to representation and progression of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) APS employees through digital learning and diversity packages. | APSC, PM&C, Home Affairs, Finance |
| Building APS capability in futures analysis | Build awareness of futures analysis techniques as a policy tool, through a suite of 10-15 workshops. | PM&C, Agriculture, Climate Change, Industry, CSIRO |
| Developing capability through microcredentials | Develop three microcredentials to improve gender impact analysis in policy, develop APS capability in futures analysis, and knowledge in Asia and the Pacific. | APSC, PM&C, DFAT, Defence, ONI |
| NextGEN: Policy for a gender equal nation | Develop a gender analysis assessment tool, guidelines for a Gender Equality Action Plan, and new gender modelling and analytics tools. | PM&C, DEWR, Education, DSS, NIAA, APSC |
| APS Indo-Pacific executive development program | Develop a program for APS leaders that builds knowledge and understanding of cultural, economic and socio-political issues in the Indo-Pacific, with a cross-cutting policy theme on climate and energy transition. | APSC, DFAT, PM&C, Agriculture |
| Cultural competency in the application of the Commonwealth Grant Rules and Procedures | Develop resources, such as language guides and assessment manuals for grant opportunities, to support the delivery of First Nations grants. | DSS, Finance, Education, Health, Infrastructure, PM&C |
| Uplifting evaluation capability among policy officers | Develop an e-learning suite and practitioner’s toolkit to upskill APS officers on impact evaluation. | PM&C, Services Australia, DEWR, DSS, Finance, APSC, DTA, Treasury |
| New methodology to calculate life expectancy | Develop a new methodology to calculate life expectancy and partner with relevant policy areas to apply the new capability to Closing the Gap policy proposals. | Treasury, AIHW, ABS, NIAA, DSS |
| Embedding modular data assets in Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) | Develop functionality for MADIP users to undertake policy analysis more efficiently. | Australian Institute of Family Studies, ABS, DSS, Health |
| First Nations: Technology design program | Improve First Nations cultural competency when developing regulatory policy, using a current case study (regulation of drones) to inform agencies about regulations of emerging technologies. | Infrastructure, NIAA, CASA, Climate Change, Industry, APSC |
Departmental list:
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Australian Public Service Commission
Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Department of Defence
Department of Education
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Department of Finance
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Health
Department of Home Affairs
Department of Industry, Science and Resources
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
Department of Social Services
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Department of the Treasury
Digital Transformation Agency
National Indigenous Australians Agency
Office of National Intelligence
APS capability priorities for 2023-24
The following areas were identified as the highest priority capability needs for Round 1 of the Fund.
The Fund seeks proposals to address these APS-wide challenges:
• Embedding evaluation across the service
• Improving gender impact analysis in policy
• Uplifting APS-wide First Nations cultural competency
• Promoting culturally and linguistically diverse capability in the APS
• Developing APS capability in foresight, scenario and futures analysis
• Developing deeper knowledge and networks in Asia and the Pacific.
The APS Reform Office provided assistance to agencies to determine if their approach met the Fund’s requirements.
The APS Reform Office worked with agencies to design their proposals and ensure the projects met the needs of the APS and addressed an identified capability need.
Project requirements
Capability project proposals were required to meet the following criteria:
- Be aligned to one or more of the APS Reform priorities – an APS that:
o embodies integrity in everything it does;
o puts people and business at the centre of policy and services;
o is a model employer; and
o has the capability to do its job well.
- Be a genuine reform activity, a novel or new piece of work or a new way of doing things. The Fund will not invest in business as usual projects or activities ordinarily undertaken by an agency.
- Deliver a significant capability shift to help the APS realise real benefits.
- Benefit from an initial funding injection to help deliver long-term, cross-agency sustainable change. The Fund will only provide a one-off funding injection.
- Be designed and delivered through genuine partnership. This requires engagement with other APS agencies to design and deliver the project. It also requires seeking expertise from outside the APS to bring new perspectives and/or approaches. Identify all participating parties in the project bid. Funds will be appropriated to the lead agency to manage any sub-contracting arrangements.
- Demonstrate project delivery and ensure agency resources are available within the stated timeframe to ensure milestones are met. The agency's Chief Financial Officer must sign-off on the proposal.
- Include an evaluation plan that sets out how capability uplift will be measured and/or what success will look like at the end of the project. Iterative evaluation throughout the project is key. Early lessons will inform other agencies' efforts as well as future Fund projects.
- Include transparent reporting of project outcomes and publication of findings.
Eligibility and funding
In 2023-24, a total of $10 million was made available in the Fund. There was no limit on the number of projects funded or the amount allocated to individual projects.
The majority of projects were required to be designed and delivered in 2023-24. Agencies could seek funding for a two year period for larger projects, considered on a case-by-case basis. Funding for projects was allocated to agencies during the 2023-24 Budget process, with funding available from 1 July 2023.
Projects could be delivered in partnership with other APS agencies or non-government entities. A lead agency must be nominated to oversee project funding and reporting. Agencies could seek funding for additional ASL in their project proposals. Funding was permitted for consultants and had to be in line with the Government's commitment to reduce reliance on contractors, consultants and labour hire firms.
Evaluation and fund allocation
Applications for the Fund commenced on 6 December 2022 and closed at 5pm on 17 February 2023.
Applications were considered by an Evaluation Committee comprising of:
- Deputy Secretary, APS Reform, PM&C
- Deputy Secretary, Department of Finance
- Deputy Commissioner, APSC
- Deputy CEO, NIAA
- CEO, IPAA ACT – representative from an external non-government agency.
The evaluation committee considered the following criteria in assessing proposals:
1. Degree to which the project meets the selection criteria specified in these Guidelines
2. Degree to which the project addresses the identified capability priority
3. Value for money
4. Degree to which the project has whole-of-service applicability
5. Perceived capacity for the project to make a meaningful shift in capability on the identified priority
6. Risk of non-delivery of the project.
The evaluation committee prepared advice to the Minister for the Public Service for approval.
Successful agencies were notified in April 2023, and projects were announced as part of the 2023-24 Budget.
Successful agencies must report on project milestones. Progress will be monitored and reported to Secretaries Board. This will form part of the APS Reform Office's role of tracking implementation of the broader APS Reform program.
Fund secretariat support
The secretariat will engage with the project delivery teams to support service-wide capability improvements, monitor progress, and provide progress updates to the Minister for the Public Service. Projects deemed to be off track may be assessed and redesigned. Funds may be repurposed in agreement with the Minister and Secretaries Board.